Basketball practicing aid

ABSTRACT

A DEVICE FOR USE BY BASEKETBALL PLAYERS IN PRACTICING THE SHOOTING OF BASKETS OVER A DEFENSIVE PLAYER AND FOR USE IN PRACTICING PASSING OF THE BALL BETWEEN OFFENSIVE PLAYERS, OVER OR ROUND A DEFENSIVE PLAYER. THE DEVICE INCLUDES A LIFE-SIZE FIGURE OF AN ADULT MALE AND ROTATABLY DRIVEN ARMS, ENCASED IN A CUSHIONING MATERIAL, WHICH PROJECT OUTWARDLY FROM THE FIGURE AND WHICH MAY BE ROTATED IN EITHER DIRECTION. THE APPARATUS IS CAPABLE OF USE BY A SINGLE PLAYER OR A GROUP OF PLAYERS.

Jan. 5, 1971 J, PlGGOTTE I 3,552,749

BASKETBALL PRACTICING AID Filed July 30, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet l mvsmrbnJOE M. PIGGOTTE ATTORNEY Jan. 5, 1971 J. M. PIGGOTTE 3,552,749

BASKETBALL PRACTICING AID Filed July so. 1968 Y 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 F- 3INVENTOR l9, JOE M.PIGGOTTE fifm w ATTORNEY Jan. 5, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet5 Filed July 30, 1968 R O T N E V N ATTORNEY Jan. 5, 1971 J, pl3,552,749

BASKETBALL PRACTICING AID Filed July 30, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig.5. I

INVENTOR I JOE MPIGGOTTE ATTORNEY XMW J. M; IPIGGOTTE 3,552,749

BASKETBALL PRACTICING AID Jan. 5, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 30,1968 I /Anni lllmlmmmmmumw lllu 78 Q I qa f I g? I07 I06 84 La 78 III \TBI no 55' a'e ea JOE PIGGOTTE INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent3,552,749 BASKETBALL PRAC'IICING AID Joe M. Piggotte, 812 PattersonDrive,

South Daytona, Fla. 32019 Filed July 30, 1968, Ser. No. 748,751 Int. Cl.A63b 69/00 US. Cl. 273-15 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A devicefor use by basketball players in practicing the shooting of baskets overa defensive player and for use in practicing passing of the ball betweenoffensive players, over or around a defensive player. The deviceincludes a life-size figure of an adult male and rotatably driven arms,encased in a cushioning material, which project outwardly from thefigure and which may be rotated in either direction. The apparatus iscapable of use by a single player or a group of players.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a practice aid foruse in the training of basketball players.

The prior art discloses backetball practice devices employed fortraining players in rebounding and for developing agility in players bythe simultation movements of opposing players.

SUMMARY A primary object of the present invention is to provide a. novelapparatus for use by a single player or a group of players in practicingthe shooting of baskets or the passing of a basketball between offensiveplayers, over and around the apparatus, which realistically simulates adefensive player.

More particularly, an object of the invention is to provide a mobiledevice which may be conveniently positioned in any desired location on abasketball court, and which includes an upstanding wall memberconstituting a substantially life-size silhouette of the body and headof an adult male and which has arms projecting outwardly therefrom whichare rotatably driven to simulate the movements of the arms of adefensive player attempting to block a basketball shot or to prevent thepassing of a basketball between offensive players.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel control meanswhereby the arms may be rotated at different speeds and in eitherdirection for varying the amount of skill required in shooting orpassing over or around the device.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view lookingtoward the front or outer side of the practicing aid;

FIG. 2 is a perspective View partly broken away, looking in the oppositedirection, toward the rear side of the device;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view, partly inelevation, of a part of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View,

3,552,749 Patented Jan. 5, 1971 partly in elevation and partly insection, of other portions of the practicing aid;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing theelectric motor of the device and the gear train thereof;

FIG. 6 is an enlraged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of theapparatus;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the control unit, and

FIG. 8 is a diagramatic view illustrating the electric circuit of thedevice.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more specifically tothe drawings, the basketball practicing aid in its entirety isdesignated generally 10 and includes a substantially fiat base orplatform 11 which is supported on caster wheels 12 which provide amobile support for the device 10.

A Wall member 13 extends upwardly from the base 11 adjacent one sideedge thereof and is secured to said base by angle members 14 andfastenings 15, as seen in FIG. 2. The wall 13 is disposed in an uprightposition and is of a size and shape to provide a life-size silhouette ofthe body and head of an adult male.

A cross-shaped support 16 is secured to the inner or rear side of thewall 13 by fastenings 17. A stub shaft 18 is fixed to and extendsoutwardly from the support 16 to provide a journal for a'hub 19 having acentrally disposed bore 20 through which the stub shaft 18 extends, andwhich is enlarged at its ends, as seen at 21, to accommodateanti-friction bearings 22 and 23 on which the hub 19 revolves. Ashoulder 24 on the stub shaft 18 provides a stop for the bearing 22. Thebearing 23 abuts against a shoulder washer 25 which is retained by a nut26 which engages the threaded outer end 27 of the stub shaft 18. Aspacer sleeve 28 is mounted on the stub shaft 18 and extends between theinner races of the bearings 22 and 23 for maintaining proper alignmenttherebetween. The bore 20 is of sufiicient diameter to provide clearancefor the hub around the sleeve 28.

The hub 19 is provided with an annular outwardly opening slot 29 and hasa plurality, preferably four, outwardly opening sockets 30 whichintersect the slot 29 and which are equally spaced circumferentiallyabout the hub. Each socket 30 accommodates an inner end of a spoke orstave 31. Headed screws 32 extend through the hub 19 across the slot 29and engage threaded sockets 33 of the hub for drawing the peripheral hubportions 34 and 35, which are separated by the slot 29, toward oneanother for clamping the spokes 31 in the sockets 30. The hub 19 has arestricted inner end portion disposed remote from the support 16 whichis provided with an annularv groove 36 to form a V-belt pulley 37 I Thespokes 31 are formed of a tough, semi-rigid material, and the outer endof each spoke is secured in a socket 38 of a substantially flatoval-shaped disc 39 which simulates a human hand. Each spoke 31 isencased in a thick tubular sheath 40, between the hub 19 and member 39.The members 39 and 40 are formed of a soft cushioning material toprevent injury to the players in the event of contact therewith.

An angle member 41, FIG. 4, is secured on the base 11 by fastenings 42.A shelf 43 is connected by hinges 44 to the upturned wall or flange 45of the bracket 41. The

hinges 44 are secured by fastenings 46 to the wall and shelf 43. Theshelf 43 is thus mounted for vertical swinging movement relative to thebracket 41.

A gear casing 47 is supported on and secured to the shelf 43 byfastenings 48 and is connected to and supports a small series woundelectric motor 49, the housing of which is formed integral with the gearcasing 47, as best seen in FIG. 5.

A pinion 50 on the armature shaft of the motor 49 meshes with and drivesa gear 51 which is journaled on a stub shaft 52 which is supported in aninwardly opening socket 53 of the casing 47. The gear 51 has an integralpinion 54 which meshes with a gear 55 which is secured on a worm shaft56 by a key 57 and set-screw 58. The ends of the shaft 56 are journaledin sockets 59 and 60 of the casing 47, and a ball 61 and thrust plate 62takes up thrust on the end of the shaft 56 which engages the socket 59.End play on the shaft 56 is adjusted by a screw 63 and a ball 64 whichis disposed between said screw and the other end of the shaft 56. Thescrew 63 is locked in different adjusted positions by a nut 65. A worm66 on the shaft '56 meshes with a worm gear 67 which is secured on ashaft 68 by set-screw 68.

As seen in FIG. 4, the shaft 68 projects laterally from opposite sidesof the casing 47 and has a V-belt pulley 69 fixed to one end thereof. Anendless V-belt 70 is trained over the pulleys 37 and 69 for driving thehub 19 from the motor 49. One end of a pull spring 71 is secured to theshelf 43, remote from the hinges 44, and the other end of the spring isanchored to an eye fastening 72 which is secured in the base 11, forurging the shelf 43 to swing downwardly for maintaining a desiredtension on the belt 70.

As seen in FIG. 2, a weight 73 is secured on the base 11, remote fromthe wall 13, for counterbalancing the weight of said wall and of theparts supported thereby. A housing 74 is mounted on the base 11 andencloses the weight 73, bracket 41, shelf 43, brackets 14, and the partssupported by said shelf. The housing 74 is secured to the inner or rearside of the wall 13 by fastenings 75. A belt guard 76 extends upwardlyfrom a part of the housing 74 for enclosing a part of the belt 70, notenclosed by said housing, and for additionally enclosing the belt pulley37, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 6. The upper part of the belt guard 76 issecured to the stub shaft 18 by a nut 77.

An electrical control unit 78 is shown mounted on the belt guard 76 andincludes a speed control knob 79 which controls a contact 80 of apotentiometer 81, FIG. 8. The electrical control also includes twosilicon rectifiers 82, tryac 83, and condenser 84.

An electric cord leading from the control unit 78 has a three prongelectric plug for engagement in a 110 volt, 60 cycle alternating currentoutlet, not shown, from which current is supplied through the prong 87of the plug 86 and through the conductor 88, which contains a fuse 89,to and through the control mechanism 78 to the conductor 90. The contact80, controlled by the knob 79, provides a means for manually controllingthe crest of the wave of the 60 cycle alternating current to change thespeed of the reversible motor .49 which drives the belt pulley 69.Current is supplied through the conductor to the terminal 91, andthrough a field winding 92 of the motor 49 to the terminal 93. Aconductor 94 leads from the terminal 93 to a contact 95 of a double poledouble throw switch 96. When switch 96 is thrown to connect the contacts95 and 98 and the contatcs 99 and 100, current will flow from contact 95through conductor 97 to the contact 98 and through a conductor 101 to aterminal 102. The current will flow from the terminal 102 through thearmature winding 103 of the motor 49 to the terminal 104 and from saidterminal through a conductor 105 to the contact 99. Current will flowfrom contact 99 through the conductor 97 to contact and then throughconductor 106 to a second prong 107 of the plug 86 for causing the motor49 to drive the pulley 69 in one direction for re- 4 volving the hub 19and the arms 31, 39, 40 in one direction and at a speed as controlled bythe knob 79.

When the switch 96 is reversed so that the contact 95 is connected tocontact 108 and contact 100 to contact 109, the current after passingthrough the field winding 92 and terminal 93 to contact 95 will passthrough conductor 97 to contact 108 and then through a part of theconductor to the terminal 104. From terminal 104 current will flow inthe opposite direction through the armature winding 103 to terminal 102and then through conductor 101 to contact 109. Current will flow fromcontact 109 through conductor 97 to contact 100 and then throughconductor 106 to the prong 107 for causing the motor 49 to be driven inthe opposite direction for revolving the hub and arms in the otherdirection. The third prong 110 is suitably grounded at 111. Anelectricc'able 112, FIG. 7, connects the control unit 78 to the motor49. It will be understood that the control unit could be mounted at apoint remote from the remainder of the practicing aid.10. The arms 31,40, 39 revolve between the wall 13 and the .belt guard, and behind saidwall to realistically simulate arm movements of a defensive player sothat a practicing player must shoot over said revolving arms or mustpass over or around the arms to another player.

The shelf 43 is urged to swing downwardly by the weight of the motor 49,the gear casing 47 and parts contained therein and by the spring 71 tomaintain tension on the belt 70 for driving the hub 19. However, if oneof the arms 31, 39, 40 strikes a player or other obstruction, the belt70 will slip relative to the pulley 37 so that rotation of the hub andarms will immediately cease to prevent injury to the player or to anypart of the practicing aid 10.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to without departing from the function or scope of theinvention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A basketball practicing aid comprising a base, a wall extendingupwardly from said base and constituting a lifesize silhouette of thebody and head of an adult, said wall having a front side and rear side,a hub, means journaling said hub on the rear side of the upper portionof the wall, arms fixed to and radiating from said hub to beyond themarginal portions of the wall, each of said arms including a semi-rigidspoke fixed in and projecting outwardly from the hub, a disc-shapedmember fixed to the outer end of each spoke, a sleeve encasing eachspoke between the discshape member and hub, said disc-shape members andsleeevs being formed of cushioning materials, areversible electric motorsupported on said base, and means forming a driving connection betweenthe motor and hub for rotating the hub and arms in either direction whenthe motor is energized.

2. A basketball practicingaid as in claim 1, a shelf on which said motoris secured, means supporting said shelf above the base for swingingmovement about an horizontal axis, a shaft driven by said motor, saidmeans forming a driving connection between the motor and hub including abelt and pulley drive, said shelf being urged to swing downwardly by theweight of the motor for maintaining the belt tensioned and to perimtslippage of the belt relative to the pulleys if rotation of the arms isobstruccted.

3. A basketball practicing aid as in claim 2, and spring means connetcedto the shelf and base and urging the shelf downwardly for additionallytensioning the belt and pulley drive.

4. A basketball practicing aid as in claim' 1, an electrical controlunit adapted to be connected to a source of electric current and to themotor for regulating the speed of the motor and the direction ofrotation of the armature shaft of the motor. r

5. A basketball practicing aid as in claim 1, and caster wheelssupporting said base and providing a mobile support for the practicingaid.

6. A basketball practicing aid as in claim 1, and a FOREIGN PATENTSweight mounted on the base remote from said wall for counter balancingthe weight of the wall and the parts Great Bmam 273 1052 supportedtheretm 4,121,118 1909 France 273-1052 R f Cit d 5 RICHA'RD C. PINKHAM,Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS P. E. SHAPIRO, Assistant Examiner1,691,133 1/1916 Kleist et al 74242.13

1,925,036 8/1933 Gorton 74-24213 2,794,640 6/1957 Rutherford 273--105.2X19 273 55 105 2 3,398,954 8/1968 Nedwick 273-55

